The lower profits and new fees banks predicted when the swipe fee cap on debit cards was initially proposed never came to fruition. Why believe them now?
Companies that provide on-demand, cross-account control and recommendations are best positioned to serve evolving consumer behavior. Banks that dont get ahead of this shift could be relegated to the role of back-end infrastructure provider.
Notwithstanding recent media criticism, there is little doubt that these products offer a better alternative for unbanked and underbanked consumers who would otherwise use a cash-based system to manage their finances.
Branch numbers will grow again while the industrys total branch square footage goes down. More customers will choose their banks based on the availability of a branch they wont use all that much.
Future banking will feel more like a medical relationship, serving customers with the intimacy and attention of the family doctor. This will require a Hippocratic-oath level of trust.
Overregulation and elimination of short-term credit alternatives will merely hurt consumers, particularly when criticism of existing products comes with no new solutions.
